Ok....not a rat! But was in a rat set! I had placed this 160 on a KB stabilizer in a shallow rat run, maybe 2 ft from den entrance. Im guessing this otter had chased a small fish up into the run, and he tried to follow the fish through the trap. It was shallow enough, the 6 inch 160 barely was under water even set down in the run. I was worried it might freeze in, even with 1/4 inch of ice. I had no idea otter were at this pond, never have seen sign there. Lucky catch, but I wont argue!

Thanks guys! It was a nice surprise! I'm just now getting around to posting pics of him, but I caught him last week. Still close enough to Christmas to double as a nice gift though!

Swamp, indeed we do still have some regulations on the otters. They have relaxed them some though. We can still only have 2, but we do not have the 100 otter quota limit for the State, nor do we have to surrender the carcass or call the otter hot line to report them any longer. However, we do have to surrender the bottom jaw with teeth intact, normally along with pelt tagging, and within I think 7 days of the close of season.

I think since fur prices are way out of wack, instead of trying to move this otter for money, I will have him tanned and made into 12 inch mittens, to match my otter hat. Russ had mittens made from a red coyote some time ago, and they are wonderful....so i'm looking for my own pair and this otter just makes sense!

I have some of the 12" otter mittens made by USA FOXX and I finally got to try them out a few weeks ago when we had a "cold" snap. Riding the ATV with mittens was a very good experience. No numb fingers this time.